Paramount Sets Zombie-Infestation Pic 'World War Z' For December 21, 2012

Paramount Pictures has set Dec. 21, 2012 as the release date for World War Z, the Marc Forster-directed adaptation of the Max Brooks zombie-infestation novel. The film is in production now, with Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos and James Badge Dale starring. Pitt is producing with his Plan B partner Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Colin Wilson. The film’s co-financed by David Ellison’s Skydance Productions and Jeff Sagansky’s Hemisphere Media Capital. And Graham King’s GK Films has also come aboard as financier, with King and Tim Headington taking executive producer credit.

How does that crowd the holiday field? Warner Bros opens the Peter Jackson-directed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Dec. 14. WWZ then comes the following week, smack against Relativity Media’s Hunter Killer, Fox’s Life of Pi and Disney’s Johnny Depp-starrer Lone Ranger on Dec. 21. The Weinstein Company follows on Christmas with the Quentin Tarantino-directed Django Unchained. That’s a lot of good product in a compressed time period.